Hallowe'en Rift, Mendip Hills

Excursions [and other notes] involved in the exploration of Hallowe'en Rift; a cave, so far, formed within Triassic Dolomitic Conglomerate.

The exploration of Hallowe'en Rift was started in 1982 by Trevor Hughes with other members of the Bristol Exploration Club, then during the early 1990's Vince Simmonds and other, mostly, local diggers were active at a number of locations within the cave, including the start of the present dig with Graham Johnson in December 1991. The current phase of exploration was commenced in 2009, with the majority of the early work being carried out by Vince Simmonds and Alex Gee, now the regular team includes Rob 'Tav' Taviner, Graham 'Jake' Johnson, Nick Hawkes, Matt Tuck, Jonathon Riley, Paul 'Brockers' Brock and Roz Simmonds. There has also been assistance from John 'Tangent' Williams, Pete Bolt, Duncan Price, Bob Smith, Mike Moxon, Callum and Hazel Simmonds, with a couple of guest appearances by that well-known antipodean, Ray Deasy.

Jake had opted for surface duties this evening; Brockers doing the haul and shuttle; Jonathon on top of the slope; I was on the slippery slope that leads to Another Emotional Journey, where, Tav was digging with Mike assisting.

The IRS had the desired effect, the fissure is now wider and, initially, there was some rock debris to shift, some sediment had also been loosened. The drier, cooler weather recently has resulted in a reduction of the drips, it's remains a little squalid in places, but there wasn't a constant drip, drip down the back of the neck.

At the end of another productive session, 38 loads were hauled out to the surface, 21 bags and 17 skip-loads of rock, including Nicks pit-prop, it was a bit on the fousty side.

Vince Simmonds: cave explorer and enthusiast,

has a long and active interest in Mendip cave exploration and research, is a member of the British Cave Research Association, Fellow of the Geological Society and Practitioner Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.